A Twist in Destiny
by JennieJane
Summary: 'There must be another way to live. A life away from destruction, hate and blood. A life in which we can trust each other with no worries. And from now on, till my demise, I will try to find it.' FUTURE TIME-LINE
1. Chapter 1

Author's Notes: Hello everyone! Back with another story! This story, however, is different from others because someone requested that I write it. So here we are! Enjoy, read and review! :D

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN DBZ!

Chapter 1:

His plans were finally falling into place. The key to his success and achieving his life's dreams were only a click of a button away. However, this scheme needs everything to be perfect and flawless. Thus, he checked the codes on his massive computer once more. He scanned the carious codes he had entered and pressed the button that will change his life and make him the ruler of his planet. In nothing more than a minute, all the information was sent to three chipsets, which were placed on a tray. Then, he held the plate and moved to three tables, which were labeled '16', '17' and '18', placed in the center of his underground laboratory.

He uncovered the tables which were occupied by three dormant humans, a boy with black hair, a girl with blonde hair and a man with orange tufts. The three were wearing identical uniforms with the 'Red Ribbon Army' logo on each. Dr. Gero quickly inserted the chipsets in their rightful place and moved to his computer once again. His androids were finally going to wake up from their slumber, and he was giddy just by thinking about it.

He pulled a lever, which provoked energy to flow through many tubes connected to each of the three humans. The immense power caused a loud sound to erupt. However, the mad scientist didn't care, he didn't even notice since he was too preoccupied by the sheer beauty of his puppets' awakening. One by one, they got up; their cold, light blue eyes examined the place they were in. They heard a strange sound, so they instantly looked at the source of laughter.

"Ah, my great androids, you're finally awake!" The doctor grinned as he clapped his hands giddily, "You're here at last to fulfill my wishes!" The androids blinked lazily at the old man as he went on and on about what they were going to do 'for him'.

"Why would you think that we're her to do anything for you?" The boy with black hair, whose table had '17' written on it, interrupted. The scientist growled in warning.

"Do not interrupt me 17!" he yelled while his left eye twitched, "Now, as I was saying, you have to destroy anything and everything that stands in your way. Everyone who refuses to do as I wish, you put him down. Understand?"

It was silent after that. Up until the blonde android 18 found that something was amiss.

"Why should we?" she asked.

"Because I created you, I brought you to life and you have to do as I say," he said annoyingly, "Also, if you don't I'll use this," he said as he revealed a device, "to shut you down."

"I don't think that's about to happen." 17 said in a monotone. All of a sudden, he disappeared and reappeared right in front of the doctor, took the device from his hand and returned to his place between the two, now standing, androids.

"Give that back." Dr. Gero growled.

"Do you think we should give it back to him?" 17 asked his two companions. The blonde shook her head while 16 remained silent, like he had been for a long time now, "I say it's time to get rid of the mad doctor."

"You, you wouldn't dare!" the doctor ground out, his eyes bulging out of his head. The dark-haired android smirked as he dashed forward, knocking the doctor back. Then, he grabbed the scientist's head and crushed it with his hand making blood to spurt all over him. The android's smirk widened when he finished his job.

"Let's go have some fun!" he told his companions.

"I must destroy Son Goku…" the orange-haired man spoke for the first time.

"Well, since it's your first thing to say, I guess okay. Killing him will be fun, right 18?" Nevertheless, the girl didn't respond, she just watched the blood trickle from her brother's hand and clothes. _Drip…Drip…Drip…_ it produced as it made contact with the ground. No one in this room understood her. She didn't ask why they should destroy for Dr. Gero; she wondered why they had to eradicate anything at all! However, she decided to go with the flow and do as her brother says, for now. She trusted her brother, and she knew that she can always count on him. He was always there for her and her for him.

She nodded in answer to his question and followed her two friends outside. It was only this Son Goku who will be killed. And no one else.

_3 years later…_

Their newest mission was a success! They have annihilated a whole city with all its inhabitants, flora and animals. All in less than thirty minutes! The three androids floated above the now destroyed buildings and cold bodies, two of them in admiration and the last in hope of this city being the last one… but she knew it wouldn't be the final one. After all, she has been wishing for the exact same thing when they wiped out the city before this one. And the city before that. And like a hundred towns before it.

"So which place is it gonna be next?" 17 asked happily while dusting himself. 16 pointed to the right.

"I sense some power levels in that direction. They might prove to be a bit… fun." He said in an automatic tone. The black-haired teen nodded and trailed behind his companion. 'What do we do this for? I don't understand…' However, 18 sighed and flew after them. The three made it to the site in a flash. The town seemed uninhabited and lonely, but the three humanoids knew better after raiding numerous cities like this before.

"I'll start this time," 16 said as he flashed a toothy grin. He prepared a medium-sized ki blast and sent it spiraling down towards the place he felt the power levels.

Under the buildings and in the dungeons the androids were currently above, a group of people huddled together as a certain bald-headed monk warned them about the arrival of their might-be killers.

"Please everyone, stay calm!" Krillen shouted as the murmurs of the crowd started to rise, "Everything is going to be okay! And we'll make it through this if we st-" his words died on his tongue when a huge tremor shook the area the people were gathered in.

"They found us!"

"They're going to kill us!" Civilians panicked, ran, tried to hide, though most of them knew it was in vain. Krillen didn't want to watch these civilians die; he didn't want to see them perish. Thus, he decided to do something that most would regard as stupid and completely reckless. But if it was within his power to help these people, he sure would do it.

"Listen everyone!" he yelled capturing some of the people's attention, "I'm going to try to save you all. So, please listen!" he shouted again, this time effectively shutting everyone up, "I'm going to go up there, and I'm going to drive these insane things away from here."

"No! Krillen you can't! You'll just die like all of them!" A woman with blue hair hollered from between the people in the crowd, "Goku, Piccolo, Tien, Yamcha and… Vegeta! Don't you remember, Krillen? Don't you remember what they did to our friends?" Bulma asked, her voice coming out small, which was unusual for her. Her vision was blurry as tears crept into her blue eyes, "Please Krillen, you can't do this to me… I don't want to lose my last surviving close friend…" Krillen smiled bravely, betraying the feelings he was having inside.

"Don't worry Bulma. You won't be alone. Trunks is here. And he's going to protect all of you. Won't you Trunks?" the lavender-haired boy walked towards his mother and smiled happily at his friend. Trunks nodded cheerfully.

"I'm gonna keep you safe, mom!" he said with a smile, "Krillen was teaching me how to use the sword since I could walk, I'm sure I can defend us!" Bulma smiled at her only son, his attitude and over-confidence slightly reminding her of his father, but she couldn't think of that now. She has to be strong and help these people go through this alive. She nodded at Krillen and wiped away her tears. Krillen, then, took his leave and prepared himself for his certain last fight ever.

"Okay everyone, follow me. We're going to take the other exit and Krillen is going to lead them to the other side of town until we're all out!" she said as she held her son's hand and led the group to the exit.

Above the ground, the androids were impatient. Usually, people would already be running all around the place, screaming in fear and terror. However, instead of the running humans they expected to see; only one came out of their hidden hole. As 17 and 16 were preparing their finishing blow, the short man ran away.

"I just love it when they run. It makes the chase more exciting!" 17 exclaimed as he pursued the monk like a predator would its prey, and 16 was none the wiser. 18 stayed where she was in the air. She knew this might be a trick to distract them from the real booty. Therefore, she decided to go in the opposite direction. She wasn't disappointed. People of all heights and sizes were scurrying like mice to another hiding place, and they were continuing their path, seemingly to the forest close to the town. 18 wa loss. She had two options now. First, she can call her brother and 16 to this place and watch the blood bath to follow. Second, she can turn around, leave this place and let the humans be… And so, an internal war began. Her larger programmed side told her to call them, but what was left of her humanity screamed at her to let the poor people be, and even try to help them.

She pursed her lips in determination and descended down to the people. Gasps of shock and fright accompanied her presence. She looked upon each of the unmoving creatures' faces and saw the same thing. Dread, horror and terror. All except one. He is a child, he had purple hair and his face was not contorting in fear. After all, she knew fear when she saw it. What she saw was courage and determination. She flew over to the little boy who was with his mother. She could sense the woman's fear, but she didn't see it, and the blue-haired woman didn't let it show. 18 smiled at the two, and left the site as if she hadn't seen a thing.

"Let's keep moving…" Bulma mumbled as she trudged on, her heart thumping wildly against her ribcage.

18 followed the sound of laughter and found her friends.

"Oh 18! Where were you? You should have seen the look on his face when we caught up with him! He was fast but not fast enough, huh 16?" the stoic android nodded while 18 blocked the rest of the one-sided conversation. _If only they knew…_

Author's Notes: That's it for chapter 1! Hope you enjoyed! Please read and review/favorite/follow! ;)


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Notes: Let me start by saying thank you to everyone who reviewed, favorited or followed this story ^^ You've really made my day! Someone grabbed my attention to 16's OOCness, it's just because he was fully-programmed, I forgot to say so… :S Also, Trunks was 4 years old in the previous chapter, and this one is 12 years later, so he's 16 now. Anyways, on with the story.

Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN DBZ!

Chapter 2

_12 years later…_

"I'm still hungry mama…" a little girl complained to her mother, once again being forced to eat some leftover soup. The woman sighed.

"Here, sweetie, you can have mine." She said with a smile as she gave up her plate for her daughter's sake. Unfortunately, this spectacle was ordinary around the area the two were currently in. It made Trunks cringe and feel as though he was helpless. Granted, he can't bring any more food than the scouts they send to do so. His higher ki would undoubtedly fetch the androids right where he was. Thus, it was decided that some chosen people would go out and bring food for everyone there. However, they were always being decreased in number with every search, and sometimes, none returned at all. That's why Trunks was here waiting and not training. The scouts who were sent the other week haven't returned yet. Of course they sent another, but that group which they lost, had one member, who, in Trunks' eyes, was the best friend he could ever dream of having. He licked his lips, and focused again, trying his best to find his friend's ki, but to no avail. He was very grateful that Krillen taught him a lot of things, but the one thing he didn't was the ability to sense ki. He thought that it wasn't useful since the androids didn't have ki to be sensed. Granted, they didn't, but it would put the sixteen-year old at ease to know that his best friend was fine. His eyes caught movement in the vast space in front of him. He squinted his eyes and looked ahead, readying himself in case he needed to fight. Then, he spotted four figures scurrying through the long-grassed land, occasionally looking upwards. Finally, the four made it to the hideout.

"Hi Trunks, watch 'a doing out here?" a blonde boy, seeming to be of Trunks' age, asked, "Aren't you supposed to be training?"

"I would, Kitai, if you haven't scared me half to death! What took you so long?" Trunks questioned the man who just shrugged.

"We were sent out to find food, weren't we?" Trunks nodded, "Well, all the nearby places have no food left. So we had to go farther this time."

"I think we should change the hiding place. With no means of finding food, half of us will starve to death before any scouts return," one of the other people, who looked like he was in his thirties, commented, "That is if they do at all." He mumbled whilst clenching his fists, "Give me the damned capsules, brat! I need to deliver those to their rightful place." He yelled at Kitai. The one in question quickly reached into his pocket and gave him what he wanted. The capsules were snatched out of his hands, and the man left grumbling all the way.

"Well, we would all miss his grumpiness, if he would ever be one of those who mysteriously disappear, huh bro?" The third member of the group remarked as he made his way to the duo, his brother in tow.

"You guys, you know he lost his brother to those monsters two weeks ago! You shouldn't be making fun of him…" Kitai said, his honey eyes downcast and holding some sort of sadness.

"Yes, you're right." Trunks agreed, "But their day will also come, and I'll make sure it does!" The other three nodded.

"Anyways, Trunks, now that you're sure that I'm fine, why don't you go train with Mr. Gohan?" Trunks nodded and moved away from the group. He stopped in his tracks when he heard someone calling his name. He turned half-way to look at his friends.

"Never lose hope, my friend! Hope is my name after all!" Kitai said with a grin, and Trunks smiled back. 'Time for training…' he thought as he made his way to find Gohan.

-oOo-

Gohan was having a fight. An imaginary fight would be more like it. He punched and kicked with powerful force. He swirled and twirled imagining that he was dodging numerous ki blasts. Then, he disappeared out of sight, only to reappear where his surprised made-up opponent would be and kicked him down with enough strength to bring a mountain tumbling to the ground. Just as he was about to send a ki blast of his own towards his 'adversary', he heard someone knocking on his door.

"Come in." Trunks opened the door and made his way towards his sensei. They greeted each other, and decided to spar for a while.

Each of them took a side and their respective fighting stance. They both raised their ki for the upcoming battle. After a few seconds, they both pounced at each other. They met in the center of the room, each sending a punch towards the other. However, they both brought the other hand up and caught the fist aimed at their faces before it reached. Then, Gohan opened the hand Trunks was currently holding and launched a weak blast at the lavender-haired boy, just enough to provoke Trunks to let go of the older boy's hand, and take a few steps back away from the smoke. He wasn't damaged at all by the ki blast, but he knew better. This was one of Gohan's many strategies. He stayed on alert and heightened his senses. He knew Gohan was going to attack him… soon. 'If I knew how to sense ki, I would have known exactly where he was!' he thought to himself as he searched around him. He wasn't shocked in the slightest when he felt a staggering pain shoot down his back and saw the ground getting closer. Before he reached the earth, he caught himself and dodged another kick which was aimed at his abdomen. This time, it was Trunks' turn to disappear and Gohan's to stand around in patience. Trunks raised his ki for one second. One second, which was more than enough to grab Gohan's attention and alert him of the Buster Cannon that was spiraling down on him. To Trunks, it appeared as though the blast caught Gohan head-on. Therefore, Trunks did the one thing one mustn't do in battle, he dropped his guard. To say he was astonished when he heard the familiar chanting of a Kamehameha was an understatement. In his bewilderment, Trunks didn't even attempt to move out of the way until the blast was very close to him. He used his hands as a last defense and ignored the gnawing pain on his palm. He couldn't take the pain any longer, so he blocked his face with his hands and let the blast engulf him wholly.

"You should always be on alert Trunks. If you were fighting a real opponent, you would have gotten killed!" Gohan chastised the younger boy. Just as the two were about to resume their spar, a loud noise stopped them.

The two stepped outside the room they were in and into a crowd outside.

"Everybody, this way!" Bulma yelled at the top of her lungs, "We need to get to the underground exit, come on people!"

"Bulma!" Gohan called from between the mass of people, "Are they here?" he asked once he and Trunks got to the woman.

"Not yet, but one of the scouts who just returned said that he saw them flying close to this area. We're going underground and continue digging till we reach a safer place." Bulma informed receiving an understanding nod from the black-haired boy.

"Trunks, you stay here with these people in the front. I'll go back, okay?" Trunks nodded, "Make sure everyone makes it to the new hideout, you're their protector now Trunks." Trunks' face was blank.

"What do you mean Gohan? You are coming back! They're not even here yet!"

"No, Trunks, I won't wait for them to come here. I'll stop them from coming here. I'll lead them away! They won't know anyone's here…" Gohan stated.

"Then… then, I'll come with you!" Trunks said, "I can help! I really can!"

"Trunks they need you here…" Gohan sighed, he didn't like his plan either, but if it was the right thing to do, then he would do it, "I'll try my best to make it back. Don't let me down, Trunks." With that said, Gohan turned and ran; afraid that he might change his mind or that Trunks might follow him. Trunks had an odd sense of déjà vu right then. _I'll lead them away, I'll stop them, I won't let them come here… You have to stay behind. Don't let me down, Trunks._ All these statements were repeated again and again by the older super-powered people. And the last one of them was most probably never going to be seen again. Which means that, now, he was the very last one capable of protecting these innocent people. He wanted to follow him, he really did, but he knew that if he did, he would be letting him down. He would be letting everyone down. So despite all the contradicting feelings inside of him, he gestured to the people around him to continue walking.

-oOo-

"I saw one of them! I know I did!" 17 exclaimed as he scanned the area around them, looking fot any sign of a human or living creature around the area. However, the only thing he saw was a cricket.

"Looks like 17 has started imagining things…" 16 stated, "This is the first sign of losing one's brain." 18 laughed at this.

"Shut up both of you!" 17 shouted, his cheeks taking a hint of red, "Let's just keep moving. I think I see a town over there. Hope it's not empty like the last one." 18 flew to where 17 was and narrowed her eyes.

"I don't know, are you sure?" 18 asked sarcastically, receiving a hit on the head, "Chill, I didn't mean anything by it…" she said innocently.

"Sure you didn't…" 17 replied, "Come on let's just go!"

"I don't think you're gonna be going anywhere…" A new voice was heard. The trio turned and saw a black-haired boy.

"Who are you?" 16 wondered aloud.

"I'm Son Gohan. And I'm here to stop you." He said pointing at them. What he earned, was laughter.

"You," 17 said humorously while looking him up and down, "stop us?" he laughed some more, "You're not only out-matched but also out-numbered; even a toddler can do the math."

"So it appears to be…" Gohan said before transforming. Nonetheless, this didn't deter the twins or their friend for they fought a super saiyan before. And 18 broke his arm effortlessly. According to them, it was just a change in hair and eye color and nothing else.

"I've got this one!" 17 said before either of his companions could open their mouths. Thus, Gohan took his usual stance while 17 crossed his arms and waited for his opponent to attack. Gohan screamed and charged at his adversary. He assaulted him with a flurry of punches and kicks. With a strong roundhouse kick, he sent 17 towards the ground. To anyone watching, it would seem that Gohan was winning, but in reality, 17 was not even attempting to defend himself. Before the android crashed into the ground, he corrected himself and floated in mid-air. Gohan, then, readied a strong wave of pulsing energy.

"Ka...Me...Ha...Me," the attack was getting bigger and when Gohan thought it was strong enough, he let all the energy he collected loose on its target, "HA!" 17 took the attack head on, and Gohan felt new found hope pulsing through his veins. The smoke was making it hard to see, but when it finally cleared, Gohan was shocked beyond words. The cyborg was unscathed, except for a few cuts on his clothes.

"Pathetic..." 17 commented before disappearing out of sight only to reappear right behind Gohan. Gohan turned around to continue his fight, only to feel an ache throbbing in his chest. He closed his eyes and reopened them to look down on his chest. He felt time stop when he saw 17 pull his hand out of where his heart should have been. He tasted blood rolling up his throat before it seeped out of his open mouth. His blurry view caught a glimpse of his killer's cold light blue eyes and he felt the world vanishing from all around him. 16 watched emotionlessly as Gohan's body descended down and collided with the Earth's surface while 18 winced a bit when she saw the lifeless body. 17 cleaned his hands of his latest victim's blood, staining his shirt.

"Well, now that everything is in order, shall we continue to the next town?" 16 proposed excitedly. 17 and 16 sped off while 18 lingered behind. She swallowed around the lump in her throat and subconsciously walked towards the corpse. She cringed as his glazed over eyes stared right back at her. She leaned in and shut his eyes so that it seemed as if he were sleeping. But of course, he wasn't.

"Good-bye Son Gohan." She whispered prior to turning around and trailing after her friends.

-oOo-

Later that day, all the people were safely situated in another underground hideout, Trunks decided to check up on Gohan. Maybe, just maybe, he wasn't killed, but just badly injured, and he needed help. Thus, he set off in search of his mentor. He looked and looked, the weather was cold, and it had started raining a while back. Moreover, Trunks was seriously considering turning back. However, a slash of red on the black ground caught his attention. Thus, Trunks descended and watched the corpse from afar. Finding enough courage, he stepped close to the figure. When he recognized the bloody mess in front of him, he felt his world spinning. He saw drops of water slipping on his cheek, but it definitely wasn't raindrops. He collapsed and fell to his knees. But really, he didn't know what to expect. Perhaps he was holding on to a non-existent hope too tightly. _Hope. _There was no such thing as _hope_. At least not anymore. He let everything go, and his ki rose drastically. But he was not aware of that. In fact, he was not aware of anything around him at all. He felt his aura changing, and indeed it was. The usual blue aura that covered him was long gone, and it transformed into a golden color. His hair stood up, not purple or pinkish, but a yellow shade. His usually blue eyes turned emerald green. The sight was magnificent, but its cause was not. A voice from his right brought him back to reality.

"Well, well what have we here?"

Author's Notes: Thanks again to everyone who reviewed/favorited/followed the story. And I would love it if you left a review again. It would really make my day, and when I'm happy, updates come a lot faster ;)


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